Can a different chemical, change the boiling
point of H2O? My hypothesis is that the reaction
is based on the chemicals used on this experiment

Question Date: 2004-04-06

Answer 1:

Yes, for example, if you dissolve salt in water,
the boiling point goes up in a few degrees. This
is because you now have a solution of two
components and before the water molecules can
evaporate they need to separate from the salt.
This requires more energy. If you have a small
amount of salt the increase of the boiling point
is very little because most of the water molecules
do not see the salt. As you add more salt a larger
number of water molecules need to separate from
the salt and the boiling point increases accordingly.